2 . Beside pencil sharpeners and calendars in classrooms throughout Minnesota’s Lakeville Area Schools, there are now big blue boxes with a red button and the word POLICE. The button sends a text message to emergency correspondents, alerts the rest of the school to potential danger, and _______ 1,200 pounds of magnetic (磁性的) force to keep the door shut.

It’s one of the measures that Michael Baumann has employed to _______ the schools in his district and protect against active shooters since he became supervisor in 2017. He hired four more advisers to improve mental-health services. He established a team to monitor _______ threats of violence. He spent $14.4 million installing the emergency-alert system and building panels into walls that are designed to stop bullets—all _______ helping students and teachers survive an active shooter.

“Everybody goes to bed and thinks, ‘That’ll never happen in my school district. ‘ Well, I can tell you as a supervisor, that’s the _______ dream,” says Baumann, who previously served in the Army. “I felt like it was my _______ to do what I could.”

Fear of shootings has turned school security into a _______ industry. The market for school-security equipment and services reached $2.7 billion in 2017, according to a report by the research firm Omdia. That was before the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., further increased the focus on security measures at schools.

The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24 this year has restarted the discussion about whether safety measures at schools can _______ mass shootings. And many politicians, after indicating that they are _______ to support gun-safety lawmaking, have argued instead that heightened physical security measures are necessary to prevent future attacks.

________ , experts say it’s not clear that such measures actually make schools safer. Research shows that the number of deadly shootings at schools has increased since 2012, during a period in which protective measures also ________ . There also isn’t clear evidence that school resource officers (SROs) improve safety. SROs were ________ in Uvalde and in Parkland before the gunmen entered the schools, but failed to stop those shootings.

“When we add metal detectors, observation cameras, increased police presence, active-shooter drills, and we turn schools into this mix of castles and ________ ,” says Bryan Warnick, an education professor at Ohio State University.

Although many school districts invest in security in the hopes of preventing shootings, some worry that reinforcing schools ultimately makes ________ responsible for solving the gun-violence outbreak.

“Schools are ________ with trainings and new procedures,” Warnick says. “It’s a larger social problem of easy access to guns, of lack of access to mental-health care.”

5 . Several recent cases of violence against students at U.S. colleges have made global headlines, causing questions about the safety of America’s campuses. Yet statistics from the U.S. government show that the number of crimes reported at colleges and universities actually decreased in recent years. ________, most colleges have stepped up security measures, employing new technology and________ services to increase campus safety.

At New York University, the Safe Ride van service is a routine part of college life. Dana Reszutek used the service at night to travel between campus buildings, which are staffed with security guards for additional________. One night, when a stranger followed Reszutek to her residence hall, he was stopped by the guard. “I wasn’t harmed or touched,” she said. “It’s________ like these that show how high a level of importance safety is to NYU.”

The most recent campus-security trend is probably the introduction of mobile safety apps, which enable students to________ panic buttons, spread their GPS locations or even turn their smartphones into________ devices soothers can see what’s happening. LiveSafe helps students________ information with each other and with law-enforcement officers. Its SafeWalk feature allows students’ friends to________ walk them home by watching their progress on a map. “It’s a great way to increase communication about safety and to break down barriers between students as they________ for one another,” its developer said.

Since most students are never without their smartphones, some feel mobile apps provide better security than the blue-light emergency call boxes dotting most campuses. Yet Thomas Clark, a lieutenant in Western Illinois University’s Public Safety Office, said the boxes—which connect callers to emergency responders—provide an important “________ layer of protection.”

It’s also important for students to take responsibility for their own safety. Becoming familiar with local neighborhoods and campus services are key. In safety tips posted online, many universities and campus police departments emphasize alertness and basic safeguards such as traveling in groups and familiarizing yourself with your________.

Personal-safety expert David Nance says the most important thing students can do is to be________—which means not being distracted by smartphones or other devices. He also recommends learning________ techniques, knowing common distraction tricks used by attackers and keeping a safe distance from strangers.

Students who are thinking about studying in the U.S. can________ campus safety before applying to or deciding on a particular school. Federal law requires American colleges and universities to________ crime statistics every year. This information may be included on a school’s website or can be found online through the U.S. Department of Education’s Campus Safety.